"Respect."
Graduations were supposed to be a happy time, filled with enthusiastic students, proud relatives, special parties, and congratulations being passed around. It was a time when family and friends came together to celebrate. For Sasuke, none of that happened. He didn't have a family to share this big occasion with, and he made sure he didn't have any friends.
Instead, he found himself standing in front of the graves of the family that should have been there. They would have if it wasn't for his brother. His fists balled up, hatred filling him. Itachi was going to pay. Graduating was one step closer to his goal, and he was going to achieve it.
His gaze flickered over the graves, when he observed an oddity. Over the years, a stranger had been cleaning the headstones and leaving flowers. Though he never figured out who did it, he did notice that it was done frequently. There were always fresh flowers, usually wild but pretty ones, and the headstones always remained spotless. However, the most recent batch of flowers were starting to wilt, and the headstones needed to be cleaned.
When this first started to happen, Sasuke questioned whether the stranger was genuine in this gesture or simply showing pity. He grew to accept the sincerity in the action because of the continuous care. Once again, he started to doubt them and wondered if this person had forgotten or figured they have given enough charity to the Uchiha survivor.
A quick rustle of movement behind him caught his attention. Turning, Sasuke looked around, and his eyes narrowed on an anxious girl backing away towards the woods, holding two baskets in her arms. It was his classmate, Hinata, but they had never talked, and he never even acknowledged her until now. There was absolutely no reason for her to be here, in this special place for his family.
Sasuke searched her expression. "What are you doing here?"
Hinata briefly closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to pull herself together. She had hoped to come when he wasn't there, and she was usually good at it. Before, she had always used her Byakugan to see if he was there. However, lately, she had been too nervous about graduation and making sure she was successful to stop by the cemetery for her usual ritual gift. Thus, she was in a rush to get it done for Sasuke, knowing he would stop by. He had no one to celebrate with, and his family and him deserved respect during this big time.
When she opened her eyes, she faltered again at his cold expression, recognizing how he probably didn't want anyone getting close to him or his past or disrespecting his family anymore. However, she managed a nervous yet gentle smile, and she gestured around the area, her baskets bouncing around her arms. "To p-pay my r-respects."
Sasuke glanced around and then looked at her baskets. One held cleaning supplies, and the other was filled with flowers. For all these years, it was this girl doing it. He looked at her suspiciously, wondering why she would go out of her way to do this for a classmate she barely knew, especially an avenger who never cared for anyone and never showed gratitude. He never needed pity and never asked for compassion. "I don't need charity," he finally spit out.
Still flustered, Hinata shook her head. "This i-isn't charity."
This time, it was his turn to motion towards the flowers and graves. "Then why? This has nothing to do with you. You can never understand." His voice kept hardening and growing louder. This didn't make any sense.
This time, she visibly flinched, not out of fear like he intended, but out of concern and hurt. The Hyuga understood his anger and knew how hard this was for him. This place was a harsh reminder, a devastating side effect of what happened to him, and he didn't want anyone bothering it. He also didn't want others to know about his past and get unwelcome attention. He didn't want to get hurt again. She managed to maintain her soft smile and tried to stop her fidgeting hands. "Because I s-see that y-you're s-suffering intensely after l-losing everything, but you f-found courage to get b-back up and f-found strength to k-keep moving forward. Your f-family deserves to be r-remembered, and you d-deserve respect."
Sasuke wasn't sure how to respond. Her words touched him because for the first time, someone was actually making the attempt to understand. Such words were coming from a classmate he hardly knew, a girl who still held such faith and admiration for him and his fallen family. The complete opposite from most of the village.
On the other hand, he couldn't tell if she was genuine and whether she would become one of those girls who chased him for shallow reasons. There was also his goal to consider, and he couldn't have distractions dragging him down. He didn't want to be close to anyone else, didn't want charity, didn't want another bond to another person. Emotions whirled inside him.
Letting out a sigh, he finally gave her an acknowledging nod. "Thank you," he mumbled, knowing the thanks wouldn't hurt. There was no harm if she did this.
He turned away from her growing smile and flushed expression and looked again at his parents' graves, hearing her as she went about replacing the flowers and scrubbing down the headstones. For once, a girl in his presence didn't chatter away, but remained silent and seemed comfortable doing so. Although he didn't need a friend, even one who has shown as much kindness as Hinata had, he was further surprised in the fact that he was content that he had someone like her who shared their graduation with him when it was just as easy for her to spend it with her own family.